Henri Descremps (also spelled Henri Decremps,

Béduer Béduer ( Languedocien: ''Beduèr'') is a commune in the Lot department in southwestern France. Pilgrimage Béduer is situated on the Via Podiensis route that is followed by those making the pilgrimage to Santiago de Compostella and so receive ...

, April 1, 1746 –

Paris Paris () is the capital and most populous city of France, with an estimated population of 2,165,423 residents in 2019 in an area of more than 105 km² (41 sq mi), making it the 30th most densely populated city in the world in 2020. S ...

, October 1829) was a French

magician Magician or The Magician may refer to: Performers * A practitioner of magic (supernatural) * A practitioner of magic (illusion) * Magician (fantasy), a character in a fictional fantasy context Entertainment Books * ''The Magician'', an 18th-ce ...

, diplomat, and revolutionary activist.

Biography

Henri Descremps was the son of Jean Descremps (also spelled Decremps), a notary public in

Figeac Figeac (; oc, Fijac) is a commune in the Lot department in south-western France. Figeac is a sub-prefecture of the department. Geography Figeac is on the via Podiensis, a major hiking medieval pilgrimage trail which is part of the Way of St. ...

and Marie Taillade. He studied mathematics and earned a license in Law. While his father wanted him to become a priest, Henri preferred a secular career as a diplomat, and served as a secretary at the French embassy in

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before returning to Paris in 1783. He studied

Western esotericism Western esotericism, also known as esotericism, esoterism, and sometimes the Western mystery tradition, is a term scholars use to categorise a wide range of loosely related ideas and movements that developed within Western society. These ideas a ...

and stage magic, developing some skills that he used to publish in 1783 his book ''La Magie blanche dévoilée'' (White Magic Revealed). The book was immediately successful and was translated into English. Descremps explained there how state magicians produced their tricks, focusing on

Joseph Pinetti Giovanni Giuseppe Pinetti, (Joseph Pinetti Willedall de Merci) was known in France as Chevalier Joseph Pinetti (1750–circa 1803). He was born in Orbetello (in Tuscany, Italy) and probably died in Russia. He was known as ''The Professor of Natu ...

. Pinetti did not appreciate the book, and reacted by introducing in his shows an actor pretending to be Descremps, who tried without success to explain how the tricks worked. Incited by Pinetti, the audience would then throw the actor out of the theater. Descremps reacted by publishing not less than four volumes where he revealed additional tricks by Pinetti and denounced him as a charlatan pretending to have paranormal powers. Pinetti preferred to leave France and continue his career in Germany, England, and Russia. Descremps earned his living in Paris as a teacher, and became an enthusiastic supporter of the

French Revolution The French Revolution ( ) was a period of radical political and societal change in France that began with the Estates General of 1789 and ended with the formation of the French Consulate in November 1799. Many of its ideas are considere ...

. His book of 1794, ''La Science sans-culottisée'' (Science Brought to Serve Revolution), was the first promoting a revolutionary theory of science, exposing the scientists as not less reactionary than the Catholic priests. Descremps claimed that scientists were part of an aristocratic elite claiming to possess a supposedly neutral “truth,” while in fact science, like all other fields, should be controlled by “the people” and by the revolutionary institutions representing it. After the Revolution, Descremps was almost forgotten, and continued working as a teacher until his death in Paris in october 1829.

References

External links

Codicile de Jérome Sharp, professeur de physique amusante
From the Collections of the Library of Congress
The Conjurer Unmasked: Being a Clear and Full Explanation of All the Surprizing Performances Exhibited as Well in this Kingdom as On the Continent By the Most Eminent and Dexterous Professors of Slight of Hand
From the Collections of the Library of Congress
La magie blanche dévoilée, ou, Explication des tours surprennants, qui font depuis peu l'admiration de la capitale et de la province
From the Collections of the Library of Congress
Testament de Jérôme Sharp, professeur de physique amusante
From the Collections of the Library of Congress {{DEFAULTSORT:Descremps, Henri 1746 births 1826 deaths 18th-century French writers 18th-century French male writers French magicians